College football season begins tomorrow night! The first full slate of full games follows two days later. In the spirit of the season, we present the ten best rivalries in the game, and give you the corresponding date to circle on your calendar.

This is a football centric list, but we have the best college basketball rivalries on here as well.

During Big Ten football Saturdays like this, how do you spin what happened? How do you put lipstick on these pigs? And even though Northwestern out-gained an AWFUL Western Michigan team by just 126 yards, they’ve still earned the second slot.

You can argue that a different Big Ten football team deserves to be there. But my argument is pretty solid for NU. Also, Illinois gave up 615 yards and lost “at home,” and yet they move UP not down this week.

Wisconsin Badgers forward Ryan Evans had the game of his life while leading the Badgers with 16 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four blocks in a 68-57 win over the top-seeded Indiana Hoosiers.

The Badgers had an underwhelming end to the regular season with a home loss to Purdue and a needed buzzer-beater to fend off lowly Penn State. Yet, they’ve taken the United Center by storm and are one win away from winning the Big Ten Tournament in a year the conference reigns over the college basketball world.

After beating Indiana for the 12th straight time and holding the Hoosiers to a season-low 56 points, Wisconsin’s head coach Bo Ryan said it best:

“There are just things in this game where no matter how you try to explain them, they defy explanation or reason.” [Read more…]

It’s the third time in school history that the Hoosiers (19-2, 8-1 Big Ten) have beaten the No. 1 team at home, and the first time they’ve done it in back-to-back seasons. The win gives Indiana a five-game winning streak, sole possession of the Big Ten lead and likely the top spot in the country again when Monday’s rankings come out. But was this worth storming the court? How can IU fans storm the court after a game in which they were favored.

In addition to Michigan’s defeat, No. 2 Kansas lost 85-80 to Oklahoma State. But let’s get back to Zeller and his Twitter account.

Fans, analysts and (surely) the teams themselves have had this one circled all season.

Indiana and Michigan were projected to be the Big Ten’s two best teams before the beginning of the 2012-13 college basketball campaign, and each has held true to form — even if in inverse order to this point.

And at 9 p.m. today, the Hoosiers and Wolverines — both with 7-1 Big Ten marks — will go at it for sole possession of first place in the conference in Assembly Hall.

The No. 3 Hoosiers have won 14 of the last 15 home games against the Wolverines, who are No. 1 for the first time since the infamous “Fab Five” squad, but this unquestionably is the most talented roster Michigan has had since Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Jalen Rose, Ray Jackson and Jimmy King were causing sparks to fly in all directions in Ann Arbor.

The No. 1 Indiana Hoosiers have become known for going on scoring tears — particularly on fast breaks — when they can create even the slightest cushion against opponents.

In-state rival Butler never let Indiana have that chance Saturday.

The Bulldogs (8-2) asserted themselves physically against the Hoosiers (9-1), per the custom of Brad Stevens-coached teams, and knocked off the nation’s top-ranked team 88-86 in an overtime thriller at Bankers Life Fieldhouse as part of the now annual Crossroads Classic.

Butler led by as many as seven before a furious rally by Indiana, fueled by Victor Oladipo’s defense. Freshman guard Yogi Ferrell, who only seconds before had committed a costly turnover, hit a huge 3-pointer before regulation expired to tie the game at 76-76. It was Butler guard Alex Barlow, however, who would have the contest’s final clutch moment, tossing a floater over Indiana’s Jordan Hulls for the game-winner.

The Bulldogs didn’t just step it up late, though. They made sure all game long they’d have this opportunity.

The Indiana Hoosiers Cody Zeller could end up achieving the same trifecta as Anthony Davis at Kentucky did last year. The Wildcats big man from Chicago won a national title, took home the college basketball player of the year award, and became the first overall pick in the NBA Draft.

Zeller may do the same this year. For those who do some online betting, the Hoosiers are the favorite, topping all the preseason polls. And Zeller looks like #1 material in many NBA mock drafts. This is why Zeller is getting so much pub; gracing the cover of ESPN the magazine for their college basketball season preview. He’s not nicknamed “the big handsome” for nothing.

When the season began, neither the Wisconsin Badgers nor the Indiana Hoosiers could have told you that they would be playing for a birth in the Big Ten Championship at Memorial Stadium in the beginning of November.

But in a twisted and odd season of Big Ten season, that’s exactly the situation at hand.

With a win, the Badgers (6-3, 3-2) will lock up the spot, but a loss will give the Hoosiers (4-5, 2-3) an inside edge at what has become the Rose Bowl sweepstakes. [Read more…]

The Big Ten has been pretty weak in college football this season. That’s obvious. But as down as football might be, Big Ten college basketball is up just as much, perhaps even more. The league has three of the top five in the coaches poll, and five teams in the top 25. The Hoosiers are number one in the poll, with the Buckeyes number four and the Wolverines number five.

Today was the conference’s media day, held right here in Chicago. And here’s who the media picked for to finish at the top of the league, and to make the all-Big Ten team.

Hey Bloomington, your Indiana Hoosiers are looking like the #1 team in college basketball this winter. Remember that in October during college football season, cuz it’s going to be a very long one.

I’m probably way overrating the gridiron Hoosiers, for the sake of my allegiance to the Big Ten conference. They will be to being bad at football what the main character in “Breaking Away” (the only major feature film set/shot on a B1G campus) was to bicycle racing/being an Italophile.

The Hoosiers, widely expected to enter the 2012-13 season at or near the top of the polls, got huge news for their chances on that front as the university’s athletics department announced in a release that forwards Cody Zeller and Christian Watford would return for their sophomore and senior seasons, respectively, rather than declare for the NBA Draft.

Such was expected. I never thought Zeller would leave after one season of college basketball (although he could have been a lottery pick), and I didn’t get a hint of any current interest in Watford as a NBA prospect — his skill set is a bit lacking in areas and he isn’t being listed in any mock draft I see — so it’s not a surprise to see both guys announce their returns. It’s going to be truly fascinating to see this Indiana team next season. It will have the firepower to do great things.

This announcement does create one minor issue for the Hoosiers, though: They are oversigned by one scholarship heading into next season. Coach Tom Crean will have to show one guy the door to make enough room for his key returnees as well as for “The Movement” of 2012 signees.

One of the greatest moments from this college basketball season was Christian Watford’s game-winning three against Kentucky, a shot that gave the Hoosiers a once-unthinkable victory over the most talented team in the country. The good news is that these two illustrious programs are set to square off again in the Sweet 16.

Thanks to Will Sheehey’s go-ahead baseline jumper with 12.7 seconds remaining in the Hoosiers round-of-32 game against 12th-seeded VCU, Tom Crean’s squad will have a chance to prove that the Dec. 10 victory over the Wildcats in Bloomington was more than a fluke.